1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in caps for bottles or other containers which will provide a visual indication at the point of purchase or before use if the cap has been previously removed, and in one aspect, to an improved cap and liner construction wherein removal of the cap tears out the container seal to give access to the contents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates to an improvement in a cap for a container which includes a container seal secured within the cap to afford the consumer the opportunity to readily determine whether or not the cap has been previously opened or tampered with since the container left the manufacturer or packaging company.
The need for seals to seal the container beneath the cap and to seal the cap to the container has become accepted to determine whether or not there was any tampering with the container at the point of purchase. The present invention provides a tamper-indicating inner seal for caps having at least a portion of the top thereof being transparent by which one can readily tell whether or not the cap has been tampered with at the point of purchase.
The need for preventing one from readily removing the seal of a container and replacing the same without detection has been present for some time. One prior patent relating to a rupturable container closure which is used in the seal for a container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,131,774, issued Oct. 4, 1938 to Waring. This patent discloses a cap which is used to force a plate against a liner or gasket to seal the top of the bottle. Between the plate and the cap is a rupturable disc of fibrous or other suitable rupturable material having impressed thereon a safety design of a type making the duplication or counterfitting of such a disc as difficult as possible. It is desirable to bind the disc to the plate by some suitable adhesive or cement. The cap however is provided with prongs which, after the cap is in place, are forced downward to penetrate the rupturable disc in areas above a groove formed in the metal plate. When opening the container it is merely necessary for the user to impart a reverse turning movement to the closure. During the first portion of this movement the metal shell will turn independently of the packing liner or gasket, the plate and the rupturable disc, and the prongs will move along the groove 19 and tear the material of the disc forming jagged and irregular tears in the disc. After the prongs have once been placed through the disc it would be extremely difficult to remove the cap in a manner which could avoid detection.
The invention of the present application provides for the destruction by rupturing, tearing, or disfiguring of the inner seal upon rotation of the cap in much the same manner, but, adhesives are used to adhere a rupturable liner to the inside of the cap. The liner comprises means to bond the inner seal to the container such that movement between the cap and container causes the destruction of the liner and a very visible indication of tampering with this closure.
The present invention has the advantage of being formed for use with normal cap lining equipment and with induction sealing equipment which seals the existing cap liner materials to the container upon the containers being filled.